(NECN) – Following the death of South African leader Nelson Mandela, many are remembering his contributions to South Africa and the world.

Zine Magubane is a professor of sociology at Boston College and a South African native.

Legacy is a word that comes up when leaders pass away.

“I think his legacy can be summed up in four things; his commitment to freedom, his commitment to equality, his commitment to social justice, and his commitment to reconciliation,” Magubane said.

Magubane was directly affected by Mandela’s revolutionary actions, as she spent summers in South Africa as a child.

“For a significant part of my childhood, I also experienced the oppression of South Africa first-hand,” she explained.

Magubane teaches on Mandela regularly in her classes at BC.

“All the students know him. His legacy is that strong. Even students who were born after apartheid had ended know what happened and look at him as a symbol of social justice and reconciliation,” Magubane explained.